LatinNews Daily - 02 January 2019

In brief: Mexico

* Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said that his government will not increase any taxes this year, including on petrol fuels, to finance its budget. In a recorded New Year’s address broadcast on social media, López Obrador said that, unlike recent previous administrations, he will not increase taxes on petrol fuels nor on any other items to help shore up public finances. López Obrador said that he was confident that his government’s austerity measures and salary cuts would be sufficient to finance the 2019 budget. López Obrador’s remarks were backed by his finance minister, Carlos Urzúa, who has said that under the new administration there will be no ‘gasolinazo’ (sharp increase in fuel prices) as the government will not increase taxes and that any increase in the price of fuel should not exceed the national inflation rate. However, Urzúa’s comments have been questioned by local analysts who insisted that fuel prices must be freely set by the market.